Capitals vs. Oilers Recap: Foiled in Edmonton

After three nights off the Capitals skated into Edmonton to face a young (and reconstructed) Oilers roster at the new Rogers Place. Behind a solid 33 save performance from Cam Talbot the Oilers handed Washington their second straight loss.

First up, Thursday morning’s Plus/Minus.

• Plus: T.J. Oshie led the Capitals in shots with five (and penalty minutes with four) and looked engaged and hungry throughout the contest.
• Minus: The regular season means absolutely nothing but losing back to back games is never a positive, and can be deadly in the playoffs.

Nine more notes on the game:

• A scoreless first period saw Edmonton with the best chance after Karl Alzner turned the puck over in the defensive zone. Connor McDavid was able to get in alone against Braden Holtby but thankfully flubbed his shot wide right.
• But it would be Benoit Pouliot scoring first, deflecting home a Ryan Nugent-Hopkins shot to put the Oilers ahead eight minutes into the second period.
• Pouliot’s goal marks the first time this season Washington has allowed the the game’s first goal.
• Less than ten minutes later Pouliot extended Edmonton’s lead to two by banking a shot off of Holtby’s skate and into the net from beneath the goal line.
• Alex Ovechkin got the Capitals on the board nine seconds into the third period with a hardworking goal atop Talbot’s crease, slapping the puck through the goaltender’s legs.
• But less than two minutes later Patrick Maroon gave Edmonton back their insurance goal by firing home a Jesse Puljujarvi rebound into a wide open net. Connor McDavid and Puljujarvi outskated John Carlson and Dmitry Orlov to create Maroon’s tally.
• The final nail in the coffin was Milan Lucic’s deflection goal, the Oilers’ new power forward tipping home an Andrej Sekera shot for his team’s fourth of the night.
• This new, heavier, Edmonton roster outhit the Capitals 28 to 14 and used their muscle to their advantage throughout their victory.
• Washington was powerless on their man advantage opportunities going scoreless in three chances.

Game highlights: